Member of the Month: Xcel Energy

May 12, 2020

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Nicholas Martin

For Xcel Energy, the COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the essential role we play in serving our communities — in helping power people’s daily lives and providing comfort and security, in driving economic development, protecting the environment, and serving as a resource and partner to our communities.

During this unprecedented time, our customers and communities need our energy and support more than ever. That’s why Xcel Energy and the Xcel Energy Foundation are donating more than $1.5 million to COVID-19 relief across the eight states we serve. In all, we’ve committed at least $20 million in short- and long-term giving to help our communities, including support for their COVID-19 response and recovery. We’ve also taken swift action to protect our employees and support customers in need.

While COVID-19 has changed many things about our business today, it hasn’t changed our commitment to clean energy. We’re proud to be the first major U.S. electricity provider with an aspiration to serve customers with 100% carbon-free electricity by 2050, and we’ll continue taking important steps to get there. Just as we are committed to providing clean electricity, we also have a comprehensive plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions across the natural gas system — including from suppliers, our delivery pipelines and customers’ natural gas use.

Last year, we had our largest, one-year decline in carbon emissions company-wide. We drove emissions down by generating less electricity with coal, using lower-carbon natural gas to integrate a growing amount of wind energy, and the steady performance from our carbon-free nuclear plants. From 2005 to 2019, we’ve reduced carbon emissions 44% from the electricity that serves our customers.

For several decades, we’ve valued our partnership with the Environmental Initiative and the relationships and insights we’ve gained from the organization’s important work in protecting Minnesota’s environment. Learn more about our response to COVID-19 and our vision for carbon-free electricity at xcelenergy.com.

Blog Author

Nicholas Martin

Manager, Energy & Environmental Policy Xcel Energy

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